Mariah Carey has a very impressive soprano vocal range that has a lot of versatility.
In classical range terms, she is a lyric coloratura soprano, which is a fancy way of saying that she has a very agile and light upper range that allows her to perform vocal leaps and trills almost effortlessly.
While many coloraturas sing pretty high, Mariah manages to go beyond what most sopranos can sing. She has a crazy low range that many slots would struggle with as well.
This beloved singer has many titles, including the queen of pop, songbird supreme, and queen of melisma, thanks to her lovely lyric coloratura capabilities and the fact that she can sing over five full octaves.
Many singers stick in the range of three to four octaves max, but Mariah is a very special case.
Mariah has an impressive lower range that she especially likes to show off in her live performances, which is hard to do as a soprano singer.
In the example shown above, you can hear her singing as low as a Bb2 in a Stevie Wonder tribute performance, which is rare to hear for any female voice. That's my lowest note as an alto, and it barely comes out!
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This legendary singer has mastered singing in her airy head voice, a head voice extension called the whistle tone, her falsetto voice, and her chest voice.
In her chest range, she can hit as high as an A5, as heard in her adlibs toward the end of the song "The One" above, which was released in 2002.
Mariah Carey has a great approach to belting, but she is most noted for her sweet whistle-tone notes that she often adds to the ends of her songs. One of her standout songs where she does this is her hit song "Emotion".
On the studio version, she sings as high as Eb7, but in the performance seen below in 1991 Live at the Arsenio Hall Show, she goes even higher and reaches for the Gb7.
Mariah Carey demonstrates exceptional agility when transitioning between her registers.
She seamlessly moves from her lower chest voice to her mid-range and effortlessly ascends into her higher registers, creating a seamless and cohesive vocal performance.
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Mariah Carey is known for her melismatic singing style, where she embellishes and ornaments melodic lines with cascading runs and trills.
Her ability to add emotional nuances and intricate melismatic phrasing showcases her artistry and creativity as a vocalist.
Mariah's vocal control is exceptional. She has a precise command over her voice, effortlessly gliding through complex melodic runs, intricate vocal embellishments, and rapid octave jumps.
This level of control allows her to add intricate details and flourishes to her singing.
Mariah Carey has been able to keep up with her range over the decades of being a performer, although her live performances have inevitably begun to suffer in her later years.
This is due to the wear and tear on her vocal cords throughout her time as a legend.
You may hear recent performances where her whistle tone does not sound as clean, where her lower chest range may sound worn, and her pitch accuracy can struggle with vocal fatigue.
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